IAS Trainee Puja Khedkar's Mother Manorama Arrested From Raigad, Brought To Pune

Controversial IAS probationer Puja Khedkar’s mother Manorama Khedkar was formally arrested by the Pune rural police from Maharashtra’s Raigad district on Thursday (July 18). The police were earlier unable to trace the parents after an old video of the mother allegedly threatening farmers with a pistol went viral last week.

Manorama, who was detained from Mahad in Raigad, was brought to Pune and is facing action, along with her husband and five others, in a land dispute case in which an FIR was registered after the old video surfaced. Puja’s father Dilip Khedkar, who is a retired Maharashtra government officer, is also being probed for alleged disproportionate assets and income stated to be worth Rs 40 crore.

After gun video, footage of Manorama Khedkar arguing with Metro workers emerges

Days after Manorama’s gun video went viral, on Wednesday (July 17), another video of the mother arguing with Metro rail construction workers in Pune surfaced. In this video, she is seen arguing with the Metro rail construction workers while some police personnel are also present. But, the exact date of the clip, which lasts 27 seconds, is not known.

READ MORE | Old Video Of IAS Trainee Puja Khedkar’s Mother Arguing With Metro Officials, Police in Pune Surfaces Online

Last week, the Pune Rural police said a probe will be conducted to ascertain facts, including whether Manorama Khedkar possessed a licence for the firearm, which she was seen brandishing in the old video. The incident in that video was about a land parcel bought by Puja’s father in Dhadwali village in Mulshi.

Local residents had alleged that the Khedkars encroached upon the land of neighbouring farmers. The two-minute video shows Manorama, accompanied by her security guards, engaged in a heated argument with the neighbours. She can be seen yelling at a man with a pistol in her hand, as she walks up to him and waves the gun in his face before concealing it in her hand.

Complaint seeks open probe by ACB against Dilip Khedkar

The Pune Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has received a complaint seeking an open inquiry against Dilip Khedkar in connection with alleged disproportionate assets. As there is already an inquiry underway by the ACB’s Nashik division against him into the same matter, the Pune unit has sought directions from headquarters.

“An open inquiry against Dilip Khedkar is currently underway at the Ahmednagar unit by Nashik ACB. We have now received another complaint seeking an open inquiry. We have recorded the complainant’s statement and forwarded the complaint to ACB headquarters along with the evidence,” Pune ACB superintendent of police Amol Tambe said.

He said directions have been sought from the ACB headquarters to either incorporate the fresh complaint into the ongoing probe or whether to conduct a separate open inquiry. While Manorama was detained, Dilip remains untraceable.

Puja, a 2023-batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, is accused of posing as an OBC non-creamy layer candidate in her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) candidature. She also said she was visually and mentally disabled, but refused to take tests to corroborate her claims.

READ MORE: Puja Khedkar & the Pandora’s Box of Fake OBC, Disability Certificates Rusting the ‘Steel Frame’ of India | 360° View

She came under the spotlight after reports about her alleged demands for a separate office and official car as well as unauthorised use of a beacon on her private car during her posting in Pune emerged. She was subsequently transferred to Washim from Pune.

However, the government on Tuesday put on hold the district training programme of the controversial IAS officer as she was summoned back to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Uttarakhand’s Mussoorie for “necessary action”.

A letter by Maharashtra additional chief secretary Nitin Gadre said the academy had decided to put her district training programme on hold, and immediately recalled her.

(With PTI inputs)